THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA- MOMENT MARKETING

The relevant article: attached as a PDF

Link: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/rahul-bose-banana-
moment-turns-into-an-ad-campaign-for-many-brands/articleshow/70442373.cms

Summary of the article:

The article outlines the diverse reactions of various related (rivals) and unrelated businesses to the
JW Marriott’s infamous ‘Hashtag Rahul Bose moment’. Rahul Bose, an Indian film actor, director and
social activist was shooting in Chandigarh and while his stay at Hotel JW Marriott, Chandigarh he was
charged ₹442.50 for 2 bananas, an insanely high amount! The aftermath, Rahul Bose tweeted a
video sharing his “sarcastically great” experience with the hotel and this went viral within hours. In
reaction to this, marketers ranging from Reliance Retail, Nature’s Basket, Amazon Prime, PepsiCo,
Pizza Hut and hospitality firm Oyo among others came up with spoof ads based on the episode soon
after Bose’s tweet about it went viral.

Moreover, management of various companies also talked about the importance of social media,
changing digital landscape and the fun element sought in recent marketing activities. Chief Product
Officer of Policybazaar.com talked about the opportunity to connect with the audience in a relatable
manner via such trending moments, Pepsi Co’s marketing director highlighted their ‘Always On’
social media strategy and Pizza Hut’s chief brand & customer officer, Prashant Gaur also mentioned how
creation of relevant topical content that resonates with consumers is key to their digital strategy,
Brand specialist and social commentator Santosh Desai said: “It’s a meme worthy kind of event and
presents a good opportunity for brands, but not a lasting kind of thing. The first brands which react
quickly and wittily to this would benefit, but if too many brands do similar things, it becomes a
bandwagon then the advantage is lost.”

Analysis:

The above case is a classic example of a great implementation of Moment Marketing. Moment
marketing is all about capitalising on just the right message on just the right moment by aligning the
content and the context wherein offline experiences (like tv shows etc, here the Rahul Bose
experience) are used to trigger Online interaction. Moment Marketing has very recently gained
importance mainly due to the rise of social media which has a dual impact – a) influencer marketing
has gained popularity along with a lot of sharing of information and reviews and reliance of
customers’ on eachothers reviews and b) The spontaneity with which marketers can react to any
instance. The above article will be analysed in two phases.

I. The impact on Hotel JW MARRIOTT

1. The GST trouble: A 3 member team formed by the Excise and Taxation department
confiscated all the relevant records following actor Rahul Bose's on being billed
exorbitantly for 2 bananas. According to the GST law, fresh fruits cannot be taxed at
all and the law dictates that the tax is to be levied only on a taxable item. Thus the
hotel was fined with ₹25000
2. The Brand Dilution: A mere amount of ₹25000 is nothing for a brand as huge as JW
yet the incident challenged the Brand’s core value of “We Act with Integrity” thus
leading to strong negative reviews by public with a certain section of consumers
sharing their own unjust and similar experience with JW on the social media as a
 chain effect to Rahul Bose’s tweet. Reportedly, JW Marriott witnessed 7% more than
regular cancellations of occupancies in the following month.
3. Provided a chance to competitors to capitalise on the opportunity: 2 of the annual
conferences of Tech Mahindra, Chandigarh and Infosys held in July that are routinely
hosted by JW didn’t happen in JW this year. The competitors capitalised on this
temporary, short opportunity to bul=ild on their own brand

II. The benefits reaped by competitors

The initial reactors: the early reactors were Amazon, OYO, Policy Bazaar, The Park,
Nature’s Basket, Pizza Hut and a few others who could reap the following benefits:
a. High relatability with the consumers: Since the mere picture of a banana or a
number of ₹442.50 in the communication mix caught the very attention of every
consumer, these companies extensively used the instance in the form of Snippets
thus engaging in Micro-moment marketing which in order to be prompt in action
b. A “Meme” material: Most of the initial movers rolled out social media hashtags or
campaigns in the form of snippets which became trending memes amongst social
media users and thus helped gain quick attention and popularity as well as
appreciation for creativity amongst consumers.
c. Peer to Peer advocacy to generate brand awareness: Policy Bazaar could create
awareness around insurance with a sprinkle of entertainment on the side. Similarly
other companies too found out similar ways

AMUL, REDFM and CHUMBAK have been pioneers in Indian brands who have historically
used moment marketing to great extents for successful gain of customer interests
 Although if too many brands do similar things, it becomes a bandwagon then the
advantage is lost

Conclusion:

Approximately 70% of online consumers believe that the quality, timing, or relevance of a company’s
marketing communication influences ones perception of a brand. More than 2 billion Google
searches are made daily and so there is no wonder that 91% of smartphone users will look up
information while in the middle of a task. Finding ways to be there in those fleeting moments of
inquiry encourage your consumer to stick around. And that is where companies can learn how
moment marketing has high power and sometimes being reactive can also be beneficial than being
proactive.

In context of the AIDA model of communication, Moment Marketing majorly focuses on generating
Interest or awareness.